Spurs hand Kevin Durant's Thunder worst loss of season

Oklahoma City Thunder's Kevin Durant, left, looks around San Antonio Spurs' Richard Jefferson during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 1, 2011, in San Antonio. San Antonio won 101-74. AP Photo

SAN ANTONIO — On paper, it was a matchup of two of the top four teams in the league.

On the court, it was nothing more than a mugging.

And by the time the Thunder walked out of San Antonio on Saturday night, it left as perhaps an example of the separation between the Western Conference's top three teams and everyone else.

The Spurs dealt the Thunder its worst defeat of the season in a 101-74 thrashing before a sellout crowd of 18,581 inside AT&T Center. The Thunder, which entered the game with the fourth-best record in the West, fell to 23-12. The Spurs bumped their league-best record to 29-4, winning for 12th straight time at home and moving to 19-2 in their own building.

It was just the second time this season that the Thunder has lost by 20 points or more. The Thunder fell by 21 at home against Utah on Oct. 31.

The Thunder's performance Saturday, though, was more frightening than anything seen on Halloween.

Oklahoma City suffered its worst offensive game in nearly every statistical category. The Thunder's point total was a season-low, as was its 32.9 percent shooting. OKC's 10 assists tied a season-low, and the team's 28 made field goals were one more than its season low.

The Thunder also turned the ball over 19 times, leading to 17 Spurs points.

“It was one of those games where it was just sloppy,” said forward Kevin Durant, whose 16 points led just three Thunder players in double-digit scoring.

The Thunder never led. The Spurs led by as many as 27.

“We're capable of playing better than that,” said Thunder forward Nick Collison. “It's disappointing how we came out. They're a good team, and if you don't come out ready they kind of put it to you rather quickly. And that's what happened tonight. They were all over us.”

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by Darnell Mayberry

OKC Thunder Senior Reporter

Darnell Mayberry grew up in Langston, Okla. and is now in his third stint in the Sooner state. After a year and a half at Bishop McGuinness High, he finished his prep years in Falls Church, Va., before graduating from Norfolk State University in...